


taking back this town tonight

by eruthiel



Category: MarsCorp (Podcast)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Grooming, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Making Out, Manipulative Relationship, Memories, Past Underage, Possessive Behavior, Teen Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-11 22:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10475847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eruthiel/pseuds/eruthiel
Summary: His outstretched arm summons David to bed, as if David never stopped belonging to him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> During David's brief time as head of science, he & Colin revisit the room where they conducted much of their former relationship. They make out a bit; David relives some memories of Col being a creepy bastard to him when he was a kid; Col forgives himself for all past, present and future creepy bastard behaviour. Brief descriptions of underage grossness, nothing super detailed/graphic.
> 
> Title from [Made to Measure by the Hoosiers.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgBgKTABum8) I've been tinkering with this on & off for months now, so I decided to finally just stop fretting over it... hope you like :)

A few days after the Parasite Incident, David is assigned to new quarters – something more befitting a head of department than his safe, cosy broom cupboard. He moves into the big room next door to the main lab, so that he can work as late as he likes without fear of a long, lonely walk home through unfriendly corridors.

The bed is large and comfortable, and he has his own shower now. There's a battered wardrobe with Simon's clothes still inside. A sparkling DaveWatch is on the shelf beside the bed; David licks all the sugar off and puts it back where he found it. He doesn't have any personal possessions to fill the shelf or any spare clothes to fill the wardrobe, and so Simon stays, in his own way.

What nobody mentions, least of all David, is that these quarters have been home to more than one head of science over the years. Colin stays, too – symbolically _and_ literally.

"Isn't this crazy?" Colin is bouncing on the balls of his feet, approving the craziness of it all with his eyes and hands, running them over everything in the room. "We had some great times in this place, man! Great times!" (David has to agree, because it's not a question.) "It all feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?"

"Yes," says David, meaning it this time. That doesn't seem to be enough, so he adds, "I often thought about this place while I – while you were away."

Colin glances at him, then back around at the room. "Yeah? Me too, mate, me too!"

 _Really?_ David's resentment is rusty from neglect, but he never had the chance to really outgrow it. Here with Colin, in Colin's room, he is a teenager again, and vicious. _Balanced on the razor edge of a mercury glacier, you thought about this room, did you? You thought about all the great times we had? Free-falling between planets, you were distracted by the memory of me – sixteen and innocent and standing right here, where I'm standing now – the time when you first put your hand on my waist and kissed my mouth and told me not to be nervous? Or leaning against the window, like I was when you said you would break every rule for me, but not to tell anybody yet because they wouldn't understand? You thought of it often? Every day? Ten times a day? For ten years? Mate?_

Colin is browsing through Simon's clothes and laughing. "Dear, oh dear. What's left of Si is exactly as depressing as I always imagined it would be. You did the Big Badcocke a favour, putting him out of his misery."

"I-I actually didn't –"

"Yeah, yeah. The details don't matter." Colin turns to face him and elbows the wardrobe door shut with a little too much force. "Point is, he's out of the way, and we're back on top! Today the science department, tomorrow the base, am I right?"

He goes for a high five. David obliges without even thinking, then wishes he hadn't. It's bad enough that he's agreed to help Colin without acting like he's having fun, too.

"So. Buddy. What do you want to do now?" Colin flops onto the bed, kicks off his shoes. "We need to celebrate getting the old pad back! We could grab some beers, crack open Schwabl's _Advanced Relativistic QM_ , make a night of it!"

David has heard that before, dozens of times, enough times that he still hasn't forgotten. The words are the same, the voice is the same, the same earnest enthusiasm, the same smile. Only Colin's face has aged a little; he still leans back on the headboard with familiar ease, as if this room never stopped belonging to him. (It never did.)

His outstretched arm summons David to bed, as if David never stopped belonging to him. (He never did.)

It's been very a long time since anyone has held David, except when he was whimpering and struggling to get away. Colin's body is solid and warm and carries all the security he's been missing; as David nestles against his chest, he tells himself that he’s still angry, still bitter, still has every right to hate Colin. Still has every right to push away his only friend, the only person in the world that doesn’t look at him like he's cancer. Every right to throw Colin out into the corridor right now, or turn him in and let Hob deal with him, like he deserves.

Every right. David clings to Colin's shoulders and breathes him in. Colin's hand strokes his tangled hair back from his neck and comes to rest, very gently, on his throat.

"I've missed this, man."

The words tumble out before he can stop them. "So have I. More than I can say."

David hears the smile in Colin's voice. "They'll never tear us apart again, okay, buddy? I promise. It's you and me, Quantum Bastard Bros forever, like it was always meant to be."

David can only nod, his throat tight, his eyes screwed shut. _You could have come back for me. Why didn't you come back for me. Why didn't you even try._ A tiny sob jerks through him and he clings tighter, entangling his legs with Colin's to keep him from slipping away again.

Colin laughs, shushes him, kisses the top of his head. "Hey, hey, now. It's okay. I've got you."

_Oh, there's no doubt about that._

When David first set foot in the science department, he was twelve years old, on a school trip with all the other twelve-year-olds in his sector. Unlike them, he was allowed a special visit into the secure genetic engineering lab, and there - in the surreal purple light of a mass of fluorescent mushrooms - he met Colin Denham for the first time. He was younger and cooler than the other scientists, but more confident than the interns, more ready to speak his mind. He shook David's hand like he was grown up already. David adored him.

Colin asked if David knew why he'd been allowed in to see the special glowing plants. David helpfully pointed out that they weren't plants, they were fungi, and said that he assumed he was here because his parents were influential. That was the reason for most of the strange things that happened to him.

All the other adults tittered between themselves at that, but Colin just smiled right at David. He lowered his chair until they were at the same height, eye-to-eye, and explained that no - David was here in the secure genetic engineering lab all on his own merit. Because his test scores indicated an extraordinary talent for science, especially physics, and would he be interested in an experimental intensive educational programme that would enable him to graduate two years early? It came exactly like that, crammed into the end of a sentence, his whole life turned upside down in just a few long words.

Grinning, Colin told him to think about it, and winked. But David didn't need to think about it. As he rejoined the ranks of his classmates in the main lab, he scanned the bustling white coats for a final glimpse of his new associate - but no such luck. They filed out of the department and back to their classroom, little David in a dazed silence all the while.

They didn't see each other again until a few months later, when Colin dropped by the school one afternoon, to check up on how David was coping with his new timetable. He brought a gift: a small paper book from the culture department. It was faded and ripped in a few places, smelling strongly of dust and faintly of chemicals, and it was the most beautiful object David had ever seen. The title of the book was short, but made up of words he didn't recognise. Colin explained that it was in a dead language called French, but not to worry - the words inside were all English. He'd gone to great and secretive lengths to wrest this book from the culture department, so maybe best not to let anyone see it - no, not even your mum and dad - in case they ask too many questions. David stored it reverentially in his backpack, already excited to sneak off somewhere private and soak in his new secret treasure.

Then they moved on to David's grades, where the verdict was extremely positive. All of his non-science subjects and most of his extracurricular activities had been excised, and the increased focus meant that he was burning through the textbooks at an astonishing rate. He had less time to spend with his friends, which was his only major complaint, but Colin waved it aside with a smile. You'll make new friends, he promised. Friends who are more _on your level,_  if you see what I mean. You're very intelligent for your age, David; you must have hated dumbing yourself down for the normal kids. You'll be much happier when you can hang out with the other grown-ups in the science department, and do grown-up things!

David surfaces from his memories to find that Colin's free hand is now resting not so gently on his arse. The years hit him like a brick - _this_ came later, much later.

Well, a few years later.

At once he's furious that Colin thinks he can just waltz back into the way things were. After a decade of neglect, David is apparently supposed to be delighted, to feel honoured and thankful, just like before, just like always. In the same instant, his heart soars with relief that Colin still wants him at all. An explosion of renewed love, gratitude and generosity collides with his indignation, leaving him frozen and dithering like an idiot as Colin nudges his head up to make eye contact.

For a while, they just gaze at each other, drinking in how much they've changed and how very much they've stayed the same. Then, breathing warm and sweet on David's skin, Colin whispers: "What are you thinking about?"

His parents thought he was working late in the lab. Which, to be fair, he often was. But just as often he was here in this bed with Colin, cuddling and laughing and planning, and sometimes kissing, and sometimes more. There was nothing wrong with it, of course, but it was better that people didn't find out. They would jump to conclusions, they'd bring their own negative assumptions and prejudices.

Yes, there were rules against it, but what you had to remember (according to Colin) was this: the rules were only in place to stop bad people from doing bad things. They weren't perfect, and sometimes they could accidentally get in the way of good people doing good things. _Clearly_ (according to Colin) _we're both good people,_  and _clearly_ (according to Colin) _we've got a good thing here._  So in this case, the rules didn't really apply.

David realises that he still hasn't answered the question. He lets out a long, shrill, involuntary laugh and hates himself for it, but it buys him a few seconds. "What am I thinking about? Nothing! Nothing worth mentioning! Just, you know... all the good times we had..."

There's a familiar light in Colin's eyes. "Oh, really? Any times in particular?"

David panics and kisses him. And it's so nice, after all these years, to be met with pleasure rather than disgust. He notes the happy noise in Colin's throat as their mouths move softly together, saves it in his mind to replay the next time he's alone with his self-loathing. At least somebody thinks he's alright. At least somebody doesn't shrink away.

They kiss deeply for a while before Colin pulls back, laughing. "Easy, tiger! You weren't always so eager. What happened to the shy kid I remember?"

David tries to formulate an answer that won't spoil the mood. At last he settles on: "A lot can change in ten years."

That seems to do the trick. Colin tucks a matt of hair behind David's ear, strokes his cheek, raises his eyebrows. "I'll bet. Had a bit of a dry spell, have you?"

"What?" David blinks. "No, I... well, I was locked in a room by myself..."

"Oh, right, yeah." Colin drops the subject easily, but his expression is not quite as casual as he would perhaps like it to be. He can't disguise the edge of jealousy in his voice as he asks, "But since you got out, though? There hasn't been anyone, has there?"

"No! Oh, wait. Um... there _was_ this girl..." David laughs again, loudly, cutting off Colin's questions. "But that didn't go anywhere! She just had a-a crush on me, that's all. Silly girl. Just a Purple, just an intern."

"From science?"

"No, no. From com- er, resources."

"I see." Colin looks satisfied, more or less. He presses a kiss to David's forehead and smirks. "Just be careful, David. An intern had a crush on me once, and he ended up stealing my heart."

 _But let's talk about you, now. Were there others in those other worlds? Things with ten arms and four mouths? Ways of communing with other beings that I couldn't even imagine? Sexy six-dimensional beings?_ David decides he's better off not knowing.

They kiss again, a little less frantic this time. David allows his own manic energy to sink and drown in the thick syrup of Colin's languidity, strong and slow and lazy and irresistible as the tide. He opens his mouth for Colin's tongue, and in doing so relinquishes his questions and his bitterness, all his defences, the laughter that always burns so much in his lungs.

Tasting and surrendering brings a fresh wave of memories to David, as his hands search awkwardly up and down Colin's torso for a place to rest; memories of when he was giddy and young and truly believed he was in love.

Yes, he was in love. He was seventeen, it was real, and it was going to last forever. Nobody else had ever been capable of feeling so deeply. Nobody would ever understand - least of all his stupid parents, who never even cared about their only son, not really, not the _real_ David - not the strange and unique genius he was behind closed doors. Only Colin had ever known or loved or appreciated him for who he truly was.

Looking back now, it makes him cringe. At the time, teenage David was just smart enough to acknowledge that this was all a horrific cliché, and just stupid enough not to care. He was committed to the fantasy and fully prepared to throw away everything he had ever known in favour of a dangerous new life, bravely riding the seams of the multiverse, with his soulmate.

The concept of soulmates - and True Love, and all the forgotten Earthling language of grand romance - was something they discussed very rarely, and only in hushed tones. There were rules against the things they did with their bodies, but the words they gave to their feelings were so heretical that David had never even been warned against them.

He remembers the first time he came in Colin's hand - blushing, trembling, gasping for air. He looked up through tear-filled eyes and whispered the biggest words he could think of: "I think I love you more than MarsCorp." Colin laughed and laughed while he cleaned them both up. Then he wiped away David's tears and put his mouth on his ear and breathed: "Fuck MarsCorp, baby."

"Baby, baby." In the present day, Colin is kissing his throat, murmuring through his hair. "After all this time, do you even know? Do you know what you did to me?"

With great effort, David pushes him back an inch. "What _I_ did to _you?_ "

Colin is licking his lips. His confident slowness has begun to fracture as his gaze flits across David's skin, and the steady stream of magic he usually speaks turns to many small enchantments. "You were so delicate - I wanted to preserve you that way forever - but I also wanted to wreck you - just fuck you _up_ \- you know? You were perfect - like fresh icing on a cake - your sweet little smile - how's a guy meant to resist? But I resisted, I did. I had to. You didn't make it easy for me, David, but I did so well! I did so well for so long..."

He grabs the sides of David's face and kisses him hard, so hard that David worries his lips will bruise. It's a defiant kiss, a triumphant kiss, in which David plays no active part. They're not partners in crime, he sees that clearly now. Colin is a burglar, taking back what he feels has been unjustly denied to him, and David is his prize.

At length, Colin breaks off, but rests their foreheads together while they both catch their breath. "You got me in the end," he pants. "I knew it was dangerous, I knew it would complicate things. Endanger the project, maybe, my life's work. But I risked it all for you, David. I had to have you. You and your sweet smile."

A thumb teases the corner of David's mouth until he curls it upwards into a smile for Colin. Colin grins back, looking suddenly tired, and perhaps a little older than before. "Good boy," he sighs, sending a spark through David's aching heart.

But there's the faintest suggestion of something sly in Colin's voice, something David can't trust any more. Not the way he did when he was seventeen.

For some reason, he thinks about Hayley. Her naive crush, her pretty desperation. He thinks about her burnt fingers and the nutrient paste and cold coffee in her hair after her stint as the knife beast, that week's scapegoat. He thinks about Dave, forcing her to burn her fingers, serving up the knife beast for her coworkers to despise while he sidled off with their tokens.

That's what interns are for. You squeeze as much as you can out of them, before they grow up and realise they don't have to take your shit.

 _So when are you going to grow up, David?_ Colin's fingers are in his hair, pulling him in for another kiss. _Hayley's nineteen; what's your excuse? When are you going to grow up?_

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to fellow passengers on this gross ship, especially Marion & Michaela, whose fics are a huge inspiration! I miiiight continue this if anyone wants it. Either way, a comment would truly make my day <3


End file.
